Caves of Despair

The Caves of Despair was a location in Ninjago. Made up several incredibly complex series' of tunnels, it formerly held the Scythe of Quakes and the Earth Dragon, and acted as Morro's unofficial grave. As of "The Crooked Path," due to a chain eruption the Caves of Despair exploded, destroying everything inside and outside of it.

Contents

Geography

The caves were built into the side of one of Ninjago's largest mountains. A crater is carved out of it, and during Samukai's mining operations, several Skulkin watchtowers were constructed here.

Following the events of Possession, it was completely destroyed in a massive kethanol geyser explosion caused by Cole.

History

While searching for the Tomb of the First Spinjitzu Master, Morro entered the Caves of Despair in his quest. However, he would end up getting trapped in a chamber filled with a kethanol geyser and would eventually die, his soul being sent to the Cursed Realm while his deceased body remained in the Caves of Despair. Later, shortly after Garmadon's banishment, Sensei Wu hid the Scythe of Quakes in the Caves and placed the Earth Dragon there to guard it.

In search of the Scythe, Samukai began mining operations in the caves with several Skulkin. However, due to Nuckal misreading the map, their search was hindered as they began digging in the wrong places, allowing the Ninja to sneak past them and retrieve the Scythe of Quakes. Shortly detecting the Ninjas' presence afterwards, the Skulkin clashed with the Ninja over the Scythe of Quakes, though both factions were forced to flee upon the arrival of the Earth Dragon.

In an attempt to regain their memories, the Ninja sought out the Obsidian Scythe hidden within, only to be confronted by several Constrictai that had been brainwashed by Ronin. Defeating their controlled allies, the Ninja succeeded in getting the Obsidian Scythe and restoring Cole's memories, before leaving.

While the Ninja were looking for the Tomb of the First Spinjitzu Master, Ronin, possessed by Morro, sent them a video claiming the Tomb was inside the Caves of Despair, with Ghoultar carving false symbols to fool the Ninja. Falling for the trick, the Ninja entered the Caves and eventually stumbled across Morro's corpse, besides the geyser, only for Ghoultar to seal them in the room. Even as the geyser began to build up for a massive explosion, the Ninja managed to escape, traversing through a mine-cart rail system and destroying Ghoultar in the process. They eventually escaped with the help of R.E.X., even as the Caves of Despair detonated, overflowing with lava in the process.